laurarhe - Achrei Mot and Kedoshim

The Torah is a rich resource for the Jewish ethical code
It is important to love and respect yourself
It is important to think about how you would want to be treated when thinking about how to treat others
"Love your neighbor as yourself" is an impactful statement that pervades Jewish thought and action

Inquiry Questions:

What does it mean to love yourself?
How do we use the concept of "Love your neighbor as yourself" to inform how we treat others?
How do we look to the Torah to find meaningful insight to guide our actions?

Knowledge Outcomes:

Students will be familiar with the parshiyot, and that they contain a plethora of important laws
Students will be familiar with some specific laws that stand out to them

Skill Outcomes:

Students will know how to internalize the big ideas in this parsha; Students will know how to translate the big ideas into actions

Evidence of Understanding:

Students will write a commentary about several laws of their choosing, and will comment on these laws in the lens of "love your neighbor as yourself." For example, if they chose the law that tells us not to use false weights in business, they can explore the idea of wanting for your neighbor (the other member of the business transaction) what you would want for yourself (to be able to trust your business partner). A personal example might be trustworthiness in stores--trusting that the total is truly the total of your purchases.

Rubric:

These summaries are graded based on a rubric provided: concise, complete, correct and {ONE MORE}. Commentaries are graded based on: {NEED THIS INFO}

Sequence of the lesson

Transition:

Students are coming from recess. I will need to get them and give them five minutes to get water and sit down. I will have tanakhim at their desks already.

Hook:

{NEED THIS}

Activities:

Students will get out their tanakhim, and 2 fill-in sheets, pencils
They will look up the two parshiyot, and I will select students to say what each is: Parsha, sefer, perek, pasuk, 1st pasuk. (Dmuyot will have to wait until after summary)
I will write the 2 parshiyot, and clearly separate them so that students will not be confused
For the summary, I will ask students if they have any predictions about what is contained in these parshiyot, and take a few answers.I will use the projector and my computer to project the summary for each parsha.

Parshat Achrei Mot

Teacher says: “After Nadav and Avihu die, G-d gives Moshe laws about who can enter the innermost chamber of the Tabernacle, which is what we now know as Yom Kippur.”
Teacher gives students the instructions to write down:

Summary
Laws of Yom Kippur:
only the Kohen Gadol (high priest), may enter the kodesh once a year on Yom Kippur to offer the sacrifice to G-d, on behalf of the Jewish people, so they can be forgiven (by G-d); on Yom Kippur, Israelites should “make yourself suffer"; one goat is offered to G-d and one is set into the wilderness to carry off the sins of Israel (scapegoat); Other laws are: About who you can and can't have sexual relations with; When you kill an animal for food, don't eat the blood (and cover the blood with dirt)
Commentary

What is Yom Kippur intended to accomplish for each of its players: G-d, the High Priest, and the Israelites?
What does it mean to “make yourself suffer?”
This parsha describes that if people kill wild animals for eating, all of the blood of the animal should be drained and covered in earth, "because the life of all flesh, its blood is its life." Why do you think the Torah tells us to cover the blood of an animal with earth and not consume its blood?

Parshat Kedoshim

Tell the students a midrash from the Babylonian Talmud about this parsha:
"...it happened that a certain heathen came before Shammai and said to him, "Take me as a proselyte, but on condition that you teach me the entire Torah, all of it, while I stand on one foot." Shammai instantly drove him away with a builder's measuring rod he happened to have in his hand. When the heathen came before Hillel, Hillel said to him, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow man. This is the entire Torah, all of it; the rest is commentary. Go and study it."
From the Talmud Bavli, Tractate Shabbat 31a
This midrash is based on "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Summary:
This parsha states: "You shall be holy, for I, the L-rd your G-d, am holy"; followed by dozens of mitzvot related to b'tzelem Elohim, super-rational commandments, and some punishments for breaking laws.
These include: no idolatry, equality in the eyes of the law, Shabbat, honesty in business, honoring parents, the sacredness of life. This parsha tells us “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”
Commentary: students will have time to answer each question, but will have the questions on the projector to take their time
Think about what you do for yourself.
Think of the things you want for yourself.
What do you do to relax? How do advocate for yourself? How do get what you want for yourself?
Now, how do you use this knowledge to inform how to treat your friends? Strangers? Parents? Others?
Why is it important to love your neighbor as yourself?
Choose two laws to explore in the lens of what a person would want for himself. How does this law honor what someone would want for him/herself? How does this law enact loving your neighbor/others in this same way?

Sponge Activity:
Students can start working on answering the commentary questions when we finish.

Wrap-Up:

The famous line in the Torah tells us to "love your neighbor as yourself" which we have heard in various forms--do onto others as you would have them do unto you, don't do unto others... We first have to define what we would want done to us, and what we wouldn't want done to us. Along with your summaries and commentaries, I want you to think of something you would like done to you, and make it happen for someone else. This is a non-written assignment that requires action. If you would like ideas, you can ask any of your teachers, including me.

Achrei Mot and Kedoshim

Table of Contents

Lesson Topic:

Big Ideas: